The great skills mismatch actually has two gaps, Google’s CMO says. Ditching degree requirements could help solve them

Lisa Gevelber, Google’s chief marketing officer for the Americas and founder of Grow with Google (Credit: Courtesy of Google)

In a white-collar industry, most hiring managers are looking for a college-educated worker to fill an open role. But they’re also often let down when they find those same workers, who should ostensibly have gotten everything they needed from their undergraduate education, are falling short in critical new skill areas. How can they compromise?

It's actually not much of a stretch. About 75% of U.S. jobs in our country that pay more than $35,000 a year require a college degree, Lisa Gevelber, Google's chief marketing officer for the Americas, told Fortune in an interview this week. That’s simply bad business, given that just 38% of Americans have a college degree. “So there's a giant mismatch,” Gevelber said. “Two-thirds of Americans—about 70 million workers—are basically locked out of all the jobs in our country.”